Coatings Testimonials
We brought Precision Iceblast Corporation to inspect and provide us a proposal for a gas turbine inlet refurbishment. The inlet was in disrepair and compromising the overall efficiency of the turbine. Our customer thought they would have to replace it. Their proposal helped us offer a solution and our customer agreed it was the smart direction to go.
The timeframe of the project was very tight. Their knowledge of turbine inlets, protecting critical areas and following all safety protocols allowed us to work seamlessly together. With the communication kept, from beginning to end, our team never had to second guess their process and if they were on schedule. Precision Iceblast’s attention to detail and pride in craftsmanship, lead to an outcome that exceeded all expectations of ours and our customer. After years of extreme environmental conditions, the GT inlet looks brand new and shows no signs of any degradation.
Soon after, another customer of ours came to us thinking they would have to replace their inlet housing. This was in worse shape. All work performed, again, exceeded all expectations.
Precision Iceblast solution saves time and money, compared to the alternative. Inlets look brand new when finished.
PIC is coating our stacks in phases from the bottom to the top. The first phase was applied two years ago and is still in excellent condition. We have experienced corrosion in the stack and are coating the stacks to prevent further corrosion. PIC is competitive with other bidders in our area. We used our O&M budget to perform the work. We have not coated the transition duct but plan to.
Dogwood has been very pleased with the stack coating since it was installed. It has held up well to Dogwood’s cycling operations and helped mitigate the corrosion Dogwood was experiencing on the stack floor and walls. Aside from some minor touch-ups required after a couple of years of operation after the coating was installed, the coating has performed very well.
HRSG Testimonials
Please consider this letter as our sincerest recommendation for you providing the best quality CO2 blasting of our HRSG. We have used various contractors to achieve the required level of cleaning annually, and you and your crew certainly are top-notch! Your trouble-free approach and diligence are certainly very professional and very welcome. I rarely take the time to formally thank contractors for their service; however, your level of excellence warrants this letter.
We first contracted with Precision Iceblast two year back to perform cleaning of our HRSG gas sides. This cleaning included vacuum of our catalyst banks and air/CO2 cleaning of back end tube banks. I am glad to say that the people that arrived for the job were enthusiastic and well motivated to perform the best job they possibly could. The work ethic your people bring to the job site is beyond what I have seen in contractors doing this type of work. Your team had removed more material from the Gas sides than any previous cleaning to date. Backpressure has decreased allowing greater performance from the turbine and HRSG. The cleaning of the catalyst was gentle enough not to cause any damage meanwhile being effective enough to properly clean the surfaces. We have since used your services again with the similar results. I look forward to working with your organization for future work at the site and recommend your services to anyone needing this type of work.
The Port Westward Combined Cycle Plant is located in the northwest corner of Oregon State and is owned and operated by Portland General Electric. It is made up of a Mitsubishi 501 G1 gas turbine, Mitsubishi steam turbine, and a Deltak HRSG with CO and SCR catalysts. The plant has the ability to use gas from two different sources; Williams’ Northwest pipeline and the Northwest Natural Gas “Mist” storage fields. Fed primarily from British Columbia, both gas sources have an abundance of sulfur that leads to contaminant build up downstream of the SCR catalyst on the tube surfaces. Precision Ice Blasting has been called in during a couple of past outages to remove the buildup of debris (ammonium sulfate salts) collecting on the tubes. Several advantages which Precision Ice Blasting has over other tube cleaning vendors are the high pressure equipment employed and the willingness to work with the plant personnel to remove debris lodged deep within the bundles. Typically dry ice blasting is most effective on the first couple of rows of tubes (direct line of sight). This is unfortunate since most bundles are configured with 8 or more tube rows and a lot of untouched debris remains during cleaning. Creative techniques have been discussed and tried with some success. During the last outage a total of 28 barrels of contaminants were removed. The direct impact on plant performance has not been quantified, but any reduction in back pressure helps improve efficiency and plant output.
During the spring 2010 HRSG inspection tube fin plugging was discovered in access lane F, G, and H. In access lane F the tube fin plugging was estimated at 35 to 40% plugged throughout the tube face with some areas up to 70%. We contracted Precision Iceblast to perform the CO2 blasting. They used 300 psi and 1150 CFM to blast the modules. Some of the area’s required several passes to penetrate the module and remove the rust. Precision Iceblast worked very safely. They had good job briefings and always had proper PPE on. I was very skeptical before this was performed but after looking at the tube fin condition when the cleaning was completed, I am convinced this is our best approach to clean the modules. Precision Ice Blasting would blast until they penetrated all the way through the module. They would clean and then ask me to verify with their supervisor before they would move to the next module. Precision Iceblast cleaned the tube fins and modules very effectively and I highly recommend them.
I wanted to thank you and your crew for a very professional job on blasting our unit 1. We are seeing more MW’s as well, steam production with the exhaust DP is 1.5-2.0 in WC lower than unit 2. Also our stack temperature has decreased 10-15 degrees. Your crew was very professional and knowledgeable about the cleaning process and the reason for cleaning HRSG tubes. Working with outage contractors can be challenging especially when you have to support them with tools, equipment and cleanup. Your crew was self-sufficient and didn’t require any support from us. Thanks again for a job well done.
Before the outages the back pressure of the HRSG was 16.2 inches of HO2 and after cleaning down to 13 inches of H₂O so we had a reduction of approximately 3 inches, so we are pleased with the results, we expect the next cleaning decrease more.
I would highly recommend Precision Iceblast Corporation for cleaning fouled finned tube HRSG LP evaporators. Precision Iceblast showed up in a moment’s notice and completed an expanded work scope for the initial work scope price. Precision Iceblast also was self-directed from set up to clean up and required little to no support from my outage team.
I would personally like to thank and give highest regards to the crews that were onsite. Their displayed professionalism, work ethic and cooperation are sadly becoming a rarity in this industry. I wish everyone that came through our gate was of this caliber.
After the HRSG cleaning procedure, we estimate about 4 mbar. The original back pressure after plant erection in 2003 was 38 mbar at 279 MW. Back pressure before cleaning procedure was 44-45 mbar. Actually it is about 40 mbar. Now we no longer expect the risk of approaching pressure limits for gas turbine shut-down in the winter season. Thanks for the good job!
During the 90s Stork built various HRSG’s with very tight banks. The gap between the finned tubes is only 4 mm. We thought it would be almost impossible to get the banks cleaned in the middle when these get fouled due to the sulfur in the natural gas causing various contamination at the fins. The contamination prevents the heat transfer to the water and steam cycle but also increases the flue gas back pressure. These effects result in a loss of various MWe’s.
Precision Iceblast cleaned 1 of the horizontal HRSG’s built by Stork at a 400 MWe unit in England as a turnkey project, at which Stork assisted with the work preparation. The tube banks have a length of 20m, are 12m wide, and in total 6 rows of banks are installed. The complete heating surface has been cleaned and at no finned tube contaminations was present after the clean, which is very impressive. Even more when taking into account the job included scaffolding built up, cleaning and scaffolding removal, which was done within 1 week at 2 shifts around the clock. The PIC team was very dedicated to get the job done within the tight time window allowed by the client. This requires a high professional knowledge of the job and a great team spirit. The HRSG clean resulted in a reduced flue gas pressure drop of approx. 10 mbar and the stack temperature was lowered by 5 °C. This results in at least a 2 MWe additional output of the 400 MWe unit which will save the owner approx. 1 MEUR a year at base load conditions. The ROI of the cleaning operation is only a few months.
PIC is coating our stacks in phases from the bottom to the top. The first phase was applied two years ago and is still in excellent condition. We have experienced corrosion in the stack and are coating the stacks to prevent further corrosion. PIC is competitive with other bidders in our area. We used our O&M budget to perform the work. We have not coated the transition duct but plan to.
Dogwood has been very pleased with the stack coating since it was installed. It has held up well to Dogwood’s cycling operations and helped mitigate the corrosion Dogwood was experiencing on the stack floor and walls. Aside from some minor touch-ups required after a couple of years of operation after the coating was installed, the coating has performed very well.
We have used Precision Iceblast twice at the Fort St. Vrain Power Station for CO2 blasting of Iron Sulfate deposits from our Feedwater Heater sections of the HRSG's. The crews have reported to the job site on schedule, worked in a very professional and friendly manner and have had all tools needed to complete the job. Their work ethic is excellent and they work very hard a meeting the needs of the customer. I would highly recommend them for ice blasting projects.
We can't say enough about the work your company has done for us over the last couple of years. The work ethic your people bring to the job site is a true rarity. From “Safety First” commitment to “What Can We Do To Help” attitudes is what really what makes it work. The CO2 blasting done on our HRSG tubes has increased the total output of the Gas Turbines as much as 3 megawatts per units and the repairs made to our exhaust stacks will extend the life of the plant for many years. We look forward to working your company in the future on CO2 tube blasting to help maintain equipment performance and upcoming projects such as sealing our turbine building roofs.
We are a 2 x 1 natural gas fired combined cycle power plant. Over the past 5 years, we hired a handful of different companies to perform gas-side tube cleaning of our HRSGs. We tried CO2 blasting and chemical cleaning. Not one of the companies was able to provide the results that we achieved with Precision Iceblast. We had been contemplating hiring a company to spread tubes, but they were able to clean the hard-to-reach sections of our HRSG using conventional methods alone. Where others had failed before, Precision Iceblast succeeded.
I wanted to say thank you for the outstanding work Precision Iceblast did at Rocky Mountain Energy Center during our 2010 fall outage. The crew you sent was fantastic. I deal with numerous contractors during plant outages, Precision’s crew made my job a little easier by being completely self-sufficient. Contractors that we have used in the past to ice-blast our HRSG feed water tubes have not met our satisfaction to say the least. Your crew worked around the clock to get the job done ahead of schedule, cleaned the tubes better than the other contractors have been done before and clean up was perfect. I look forward to working with you guys again.
I have the pleasure of writing this letter of recommendation in light of the recent dry ice cleaning carried out In New Zealand for Contact Energy Ltd. The dry ice cleaning was carried out in December 2010 for a duration of 18 days. Upon recommendation from other power producers abroad it was agreed to engage the services of Precision Iceblast Corporation. Contact Energy Ltd has a strong culture and attitude to safety which was clearly emphasized to Precision Iceblast Corporation to which they responded impeccably. Precision Iceblast Corporation’s attitude and management is of a very high standard. They conduct themselves in a professional manner with the aim to complete the planned work with zero harm, on time and within budget. They have a good work ethic, are well prepared and are most accommodating of the requests of the client. Their equipment, safety standards and procedures are well thought, documented and carried out. Communication between Precision Iceblast Corporation and Contact Energy Ltd was clear and informative. The level of information and content was never in question, Precision Iceblast Corporation was always open with their approach and delivery of this information with regular feedback and progress updates before during and after the project. They are very knowledgeable in this line of work and openly put forward recommendations to capitalize on the future outputs and efficiencies of your plant. In closing, Contact Energy has achieved a marked reduction in back pressure of +- 10mbar (average taken across the HRSG) and an increase of 18Mw. These figures were measured at the same load and approximately the same atmospheric conditions. This equates to a substantial increase in operational efficiencies and long term benefits.
Working with Precision Ice Blasting has been a pleasure. I commend them on their ability, attitude and professional manner in which they conduct their business. I am happy to stand as a verbal referee and would welcome the opportunity to work with them in the future.
We contracted Precision Iceblast to clean our HRSG in the fall outage of 2011. Even before the purchase order was signed Precision Ice Blast made the process very easy. We contracted them to clean 7 faces on the HRSG and the SCR as well. Precision Ice Blast was very professional and did not interrupt any other activities during the outage. We were extremely satisfied with the minimal amount of space that they required to get the job completed. We have had significant increases in the HRSG performance. Some key points are 12” drop in HRSG back pressure, 100btu per KW drop in heat rate, 40% increase in SCR efficiency.
We are extremely satisfied with Precision Ice Blast and the work that they performed. We would highly recommend them for any HRSG cleaning.
As we don’t measure back-pressure on the Mississauga aero units, I do not have a before and after comparison. The biggest benefit we have seen is the increase in superheater outlet temperature without the duct burners in service. Temps have increased 10 to 15 Deg C, which we have calculated to be an improvement in boiler efficiency % of approx. 3%. There was definitely value in cleaning the boilers! You and your crew can also be commended on your attitude/performance towards safety and the pride that you take in your work.
It was a pleasure working with your team and having you part of the Mississauga Turnaround.
The cleaning was ABSOLUTELY SUCCESFULL. We had been running with a counter pressure of 340 H2O mm, and gas turbine limited at 95 Mw. After cleaning we have got a counter pressure of 160 H2O mm at the same power 95 Mw, and at 112 Mw, the counter pressure is about 260 H2O mm. Far away from the 340 H2O mm!
NICE WORK!
As per discussion with you and your representatives, I can offer this as personal feedback to your HRSG cleaning services and also offer general comments to other methods. I have been in the inspection business for boilers, pressure vessels and pressure piping for 37 years with the last 12 years as the East Gas inspector for Transalta’s Ontario operations. We have used Precision for three of our units and the work that was to be done was performed with success as the work was closely inspected and we saw a 3% increase in efficiency in two of our Ontario units. Your personnel were very professional and courteous at all times and actually offered to change their shift schedule when our outage schedule needed to be modified. I can say that we used a different blasting company for one of our plants and required them to re-blast some sections after my inspection. It is my opinion that your tube spreading technique is superior, and required, for proper access when the tube banks are deep and contain debris. Also, your standard of blasting each face twice bottom to top and then top to bottom goes a long way in ensuring a top notch job. General blasting of the face will not clean all the way through.
In terms of explosion cleaning, I have not used this service and have heard more negative than positive comments about it at the conferences that I have attended. I understand that scaffolding may not be required for this type of cleaning but I would consider this a negative as I would have little access to evaluate the level of success. Currently our plants are not requiring your services but if we do I would certainly reach out for a quote. Best of success.
